"Nothing I see in this room [on this street, from this window, in this
place] means anything."

PRACTICE SUMMARY

Purpose: To teach that there is no difference in the things you see.

Exercise: Twice--morning and evening, preferably for one minute.

Look leisurely about you, applying idea specifically and indiscriminately to
whatever you see, first in your immediate area and then farther. Say, for
example, "This table does not mean anything."

Remarks: It is essential to specifically exclude nothing. But do not try
to include everything. Do not hurry, leisure is essential.

COMMENTARY

The early lessons do not seem particularly inspiring to most people, but
they are carefully planned to begin undermining the ego thought system.
"Nothing I see...means anything." We are so certain, in our ego arrogance, that
we really understand a lot of things. The lesson is trying to plant the idea
that we don't really understand anything we see, that our vaunted understanding
is an illusion. As long as we think we understand what something is and what it
means, we will not begin to ask the Holy Spirit for its true meaning. Our
belief that we understand closes our mind to any higher understanding. We need
to become like little children, who realize they do not know, and ask someone
who does know.

Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind is the title of a wonderful little book that
introduces Zen thought. The idea is that we grow most rapidly and reliably when
we admit we are beginners that do not know, and need instruction in everything.
A "beginner's mind" is an open mind, ready to find unrecognized meaning in
everything.